A wide variety of materials or compositions have been disclosed in the prior art as being effective for promoting hair growth and/or for preventing, stopping or minimizing hair loss as well as treating related conditions such as dandruff, itching of the scalp, etc.
A number of such treatment agents were disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,874,791 issued Oct. 17, 1989 to Adachi, et al. In addition, that patent disclosed and claimed a hair-growing agent containing as an effective ingredient an aliphatic carboxylic acid having an odd number of carbon atoms or a derivative thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,814,351 issued Mar. 21, 1989 to Mathews, et al. disclosed yet another scalp treatment for reducing average daily hair loss by periodically applying to the scalp a composition containing an active chelating agent. That reference was further of note in that its background statement set forth various theories for promoting hair growth.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,231 issued Sep. 6, 1988 to Ogura, et al. disclosed a hair tonic composition based upon the discovery that external or topical application of an extract from dong chong xia cao is capable of promoting hair growth.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,853,216 discussed the topical application of alpha.sub.1 adrenergic agonist for producing a pilomotor effect to enhance shaving.
Still other references have dealt with various active agents for treating related conditions including various skin conditions. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,719,226 issued Jan. 12, 1988 to Otsuka, et al. disclosed a percutaneous absorption type preparation and process for preparing the product. U.S. Pat. No. 4,725,609 issued Feb. 16, 1988 to Kull, Jr., et al. disclosed the topical use of nicotinamide to promote angiogenesis, reepithelialization and wound healing. U.S. Pat. No. 4,656,192 referred to ester derivatives of tropolone as being useful antimicrobial agents, hair growth stimulants and dental medicines.
In addition to the above references, various herbs have long been known in Chinese herbology or medicine as having various medicinal or physiological applications. In particular, various herbs have been discussed as being effective for controlling the quality and color of hair as well as being effective hair growth agents.
In this connection, different herbs have been disclosed for treating premature graying of hair. These herbs include:
1. He shou wu--Radix polygoni multiflori; PA1 2. Hei zhi ma--Semen sesami indici; and PA1 3. Gou gi zi--Fructus lycii chinensis. PA1 1. Gu sui bu--Rhizoma gusuibu (drynaria); and PA1 2. Ce bai ye--Cacumen biotae orientalis.
The above herbs were used particularly in oral applications such as in teas but were sometimes employed as local external or topical applications.
The following herbs have also been considered suitable for treating baldness in local or topical applications:
Ce bai ye, according to Chinese literature, when made in a tincture from the fresh plant, has been tested and found to produce sprouting of hair on bald people, reportedly in at least thirteen cases. (Chinese Herbal Medicine, Materia Medica--Bensky Gamble, page 370. )
In any event, continuing efforts to discover or develop such materials demonstrates a continuing need for compositions or materials which are effective for promoting hair growth, preventing or minimizing hair loss and for treating various skin conditions. It is of course particularly important that such materials or compositions be uniformly effective and safe to use in order to enhance their effectiveness for use by large numbers of people.